Programme Management Specialist

Background

UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

UN Women in Lebanon supports the government to implement commitments to international normative standards on gender equality and women’s human rights. The Lebanon country office is working across the humanitarian-development-peace nexus, in alignment with the three development/ humanitarian frameworks in Lebanon 1), 2) the Lebanon Response Plan (LRP) 2024, which is a two-year humanitarian-stabilization framework (2024-2025), with annual planning, and 3) .

UN Women Lebanon’s Strategic Note for 2023-2025 is based on the 2022 Common County Analysis (CCA) and closely aligned with the UNSDCF for Lebanon and focuses on three of the UNSDCF priority areas (People, Prosperity and Peace and Governance) and three of thematic UN Women’s global Strategic Plan (SP) impact areas:

• Governance and Participation in Public Life
• Women’s Economic Empowerment
• Women, Peace and Security and Humanitarian Action

UN Women’s SP 2022-2025 impact area three on Ending Violence against Women and Girls, is mainstreamed through UN Women Lebanon’s work in the three impact areas. In addition, the Women Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF), provides an important opportunity to address structural funding gaps for women’s participation in peacebuilding and decision-making and to complement the ongoing work and streams of funding in Lebanon. It focuses on small and newly emerging independent CSOs targeting women and girls who are working on issues of peace, security and representation.

The estimated population in Lebanon is 5.4 million among which 51% are women. Women are more likely to be food insecure and less likely to have legal residency (if they are refugees), savings, a bank account, extensive social networks beyond their family or access to social protection. Lebanon’s laws largely discriminate against women who face more barriers than men in accessing justice. Female labour force participation in Lebanon stood at only 22 per cent in 2022. Combined, such vulnerabilities make women less resilient to shocks – all things that are critical to enabling individuals and families to respond to disasters. Lebanon was reclassified as a lower middle-income country in July 2022, the first time in 25 years. Economic challenges include exchange rate fluctuations, inflation, unemployment, low household incomes, and limited capacity of municipal authorities to deliver basic services. Following the outbreak of the conflict in Gaza in early October 2023, hostilities along the Blue Line in the Lebanese southern region have led to the displacement of tens of thousands of people.

Under the supervision of the Country Representative, the Programme Management Specialist is responsible for managing the development, implementation, monitoring and reporting of programmes for the Lebanon CO, including providing technical support to the implementation of the Country Office programme, managing the monitoring and reporting for the Country Office, overseeing and guiding people and budget management for the programme team, building partnerships and providing support in developing resource mobilization strategies, and managing knowledge building efforts.

Duties and Responsibilities

1. Manage the programmatic development for the Country Office, based on the Strategic Note

• Provide overall programme advisory support to the Office Management;
• Guide the development of the CO programme, and provide technical support to the design and formulation of programme/ project initiatives;
• Support the Representative in managing the process of programme conceptualization, planning, implementing and monitoring;
• Review and provide feedback to project/ programme strategies and documents, workplans, case studies and related knowledge products and publications, as needed;
• Provide technical advice on the development of systems, processes and mechanisms to support programme planning, implementation, monitoring and progress reporting;
• Review and evaluate proposals and oversee the preparation of donor proposals and reports;
• Draft policy documents, briefs and other strategic papers/ materials for the use in the development and presentation of policy and programmatic positions.

2. Provide technical support to the implementation of the Country Office programme

• Review programme annual work plans to assure compliance with UN Women programme goals and results-based indicators;
• Analyze and ensure alignment of project budgets with logical framework matrices and work plans;
• Draft reports on activities, outputs and outcomes; and compile information in preparations of country office donor and UN Women reports;
• Analyze and ensure alignment of project budgets with logical framework matrices and work plans;
• Manage programme quality control and identification of potential challenges;
• Align programme activities with operations team in close liaison with Operations Managers;
• Build and manage relationships with national partners, as necessary.

3. Manage the monitoring and reporting for the Country Office

• Recommend and establish programme monitoring standards, criteria, and other indicators for measuring and assessing progress/results;
• Manage the monitoring of mutually agreed results frameworks and performance indicators;
• Coordinate the process of gathering information and preparing progress reports on programme implementation; prepare technical reports;
• Prepare programme team for audits and monitor implementation of audit recommendations;
• Provide training on results-based management to office staff, as necessary.

4. Oversee and guide people and budget management for the programme team

• Lead a team, perform staff performance reviews, ensure capacity development of staff members by suggesting development opportunities;
• Monitor and analyze financial situation on the portfolios and programmes to ensure adherence to delivery rates and utilization of resources to meet agreed upon targets and results;
• Ensure effective information flow, communication and coordination across the office, between programmes, projects and operations, and with other UN Women offices and units.

5. Build partnerships and provide support in developing resource mobilization strategies

• Develop and implement partnerships and resource mobilization strategies;
• Analyze and research information on donors, finalize substantive briefs on possible areas of cooperation, identification of opportunities for resource mobilization and cost sharing;
• Determine programmatic areas of cooperation, based on strategic goals of UN Women, country needs and donors’ priorities and develop the relevant partnerships.

6. Manage knowledge building efforts

• Manage the process of identifying and synthesizing of best practices and lessons learned that are directly linked to the implementation of the programme and contribute to their global dissemination.

7. The incumbent performs other duties within their functional profile as deemed necessary for the efficient functioning of the Office and the Organization.

Supervisory/Managerial Responsibilities: The person in this role will directly supervise a team of 2. This may change in the future as the programme size/needs evolve.

Competencies

Core Values:

• Respect for Diversity
• Integrity
• Professionalism

Core Competencies:

• Awareness and Sensitivity Regarding Gender Issues
• Accountability
• Creative Problem Solving
• Effective Communication
• Inclusive Collaboration
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Leading by Example

Please visit this link for more information on UN Women’s Core Values and Competencies:

Functional Competencies

• Strong programme formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation skills
• Ability to develop detailed operational plans, budgets, and deliver on them
• Ability to synthesize program performance data and produce analytical reports to inform management and strategic decision-making
• Strong analytical skills
• Strong knowledge of Results Based Management
• Good knowledge of UN programme management systems

Required Skills and Experience

Education and Certification:

• Master’s degree or equivalent in Social Sciences, Political Science, Development, Public Administration, Gender is required.
• A first-level university degree in combination with two additional years of qualifying experience may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.
• A project/programme management certification (such as PMP®, PRINCE2®, or MSP®) would be an added advantage.

Experience: 

• At least 5 years of progressively responsible experience in programme management, including programme design, programme coordination, monitoring and evaluation, donor reporting and capacity building is required.
• Experience in working in a gender related area is required.
• Experience in setting priorities, budgets, work plans, participating in programme development and programme writing is required.
• Experience in leading teams effectively is desirable.
• Experience in working across the humanitarian, development and peacebuilding nexus is desirable.

Language requirements:

• Fluency in English is required.
• Knowledge of another official UN language is desirable (French and/or Arabic).

Application:

Interested individuals must submit the following document to demonstrate their qualifications. Kindly note that the system will only allow one attachment.

• UN Women Personal History form (P-11) which can be downloaded from ;
• Any application without submitting the above-mentioned document will be a ground for disqualification.

At UN Women, we are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive environment of mutual respect. UN Women recruits, employs, trains, compensates, and promotes regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, ability, national origin, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, competence, integrity and organizational need.

If you need any reasonable accommodation to support your participation in the recruitment and selection process, please include this information in your application.

UN Women has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UN Women, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to UN Women’s policies and procedures and the standards of conduct expected of UN Women personnel and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. (Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.)